I dug out some revised edition magic cards last week and I'm learning plus preparing to play soon. I have no dual or triple lands, all basic single lands.

I read the rules of vintage and it says i can play any magic card set cards with vintage. This means i can use the newer triple lands and the various dual lands right?

If so,

Are there dual lands or triple lands that are better than the others in general functionality or abilities (like multiple options being better on one versus another type)? Which cards would you guys recommend. For example a regular dual land, a regular triple land, one of the triple lands with several options? I know the colors are sort of up to me to decide on what i need/want.

Also, can you only have 4 of each card name in the case of duals and triples?

Looking at "Akoum Refuge" vs "koskun keep" for example..

It seems to make sense to rather have triples than duals logically, am i missing some catches with rules i should watch out for?

It depends on what type of deck you are making/using, what colors you are running and which ones are going to be in it.

I have a couple of 5 color decks, 1 three color deck, a couple 2 color decks, and several mono-colored decks.

The hardest decks to get working properly (or as best as possible) are those with more than 2 colors. The 5 color decks are always hindered until the colors I need come out. The 3 color deck works 85% of the time due to the mix I put into it. The mono and dual colored works extremely well.

Here is the thing, MTG is a VERY expensive and competitive game. Each game will be different due to YOUR deck and shuffle, your OPPONENT's deck and shuffle, and how things get played out. My first 5 color deck has only ran at how I built it and killed all my opponents in 4 rounds once. I have had a version of it for years. Most of my games go to at least round 9 or 10 due to how it comes up. But it was beautiful to see it work like that in round 4. Loved it.

Lands do make the difference. The best multi-color lands are the original Dual lands like Taiga, Tundra, bayou, etc. These are the first of them and had NO PENALTIES (comes into play tapped or pay to untap to use them on turn it comes into play). There are several in standard format now that has penalties unless a stipulation is met (pay 2 life or unless X or Y are on your battlefield).

In Homelands, the first TRI-colored lands were introduced. BUT you had to pay 1 colorless to use a specific color. There are several since that have lighter penalties.

Other possible lands you might consider are MULTI-colored lands like Glimmervoid, Reflecting Pool, Lotus Vale, Cavern of Souls...

These can produce any color but they have limits and penalties as well. You would have to read each card to see what they are.

The best duals are the original (revised to alpha dual lands).

Buhtwipe wrote:I dug out some revised edition magic cards last week and I'm learning plus preparing to play soon. I have no dual or triple lands, all basic single lands.

I read the rules of vintage and it says i can play any magic card set cards with vintage. This means i can use the newer triple lands and the various dual lands right?

If so,

Are there dual lands or triple lands that are better than the others in general functionality or abilities (like multiple options being better on one versus another type)? Which cards would you guys recommend. For example a regular dual land, a regular triple land, one of the triple lands with several options? I know the colors are sort of up to me to decide on what i need/want.

Also, can you only have 4 of each card name in the case of duals and triples?

Looking at "Akoum Refuge" vs "koskun keep" for example..

It seems to make sense to rather have triples than duals logically, am i missing some catches with rules i should watch out for?

Yes, with Vintage you can play any card in the history of Magic, as long as it isn't on the ban list.

Correct, you can only have 4 of each name in your deck. Basic lands are the only cards in any format that aren't subject to a maximum.

As far as better or worse goes, I agree that the ABUR duals are the best (plateau, bayou, volcanic island, badlands, savannah, underground sea, taiga, tropical island, scrubland, tundra). They have not been re-printed because they are 99% of the time better than any basic land.

Second place I think are the shock lands that were reprinted in gatecrash and return to ravnica, the ones like Steam Vents and Overgrown Tomb, etc. The main benefit to these is that you can use a fetchland like Arid Mesa to search for them.

The third kind that I personally use are the M10/Innistrad duals ("Checklands") like Sunpetal Grove. You can't search for them, but you'll usually have one of the land types already in play so they come down untapped.

The last kind that I usually put in a multicolor deck are the painlands, like brushland. You can always get a colorless mana off them if you just need something to help cast a spell, but you have the option to get a colored mana if you really need it.

As far as triple lands go, you really only have the Shards of Alara ones like Jungle Shrine and the Lairs from Planar Chaos like Rith's Grove. I prefer the lairs because you can tap a land for mana, play your lair, bounce the tapped land, and tap the lair for a second mana. It doesn't set you back as badly as the SOA ones that are shut down for a turn.

If you are starting out, I recommend getting some of the Panorama lands as well. You can use them for colorless, or grab a land that gives a color you need.

Thanks for your feedback too Nighthawk.